Water-still.



PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. H. P. HODGES & J. KUEN.

WATER STILL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.14.1902.

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No. 799,002. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. H. F. HODGES & J. KUEN.

WATER STILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.14.1902.

5 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

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No. 799,002. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. H. F. HODGES & J. KUEN.

WATER STILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-.14. 1902.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3,

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No. 799,002. PATBNTED SEPT. 5, 1905.

H. F. HODGES & J. KUEN.

WATER STILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14. 1902- 5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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m'wfm W443 No. 799,002. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 190-5. H. F. HODGES & J. KUEN.

WATER STILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAE.14.1902.

5SHEETSSHEET 5' W212 GJJ av. 64w

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE F. HODCES AND JOSEPH KUEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA,ASSIGNORS TO AMERICAN \VATER PURIFYING COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF DELAIVARE.

WATER-STILL.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application MZHGll 14, 1902. Serial N0. 98,202-

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HORACE F. Hope es and Josaru KUEN, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ater-Stills orApparatus for Purifying Water by Distillation, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Our invention relates to an improved construction of apparatus for thedistillation and purification of water, the essential features of whichare herein fully set forth.

The principal object of our invention is to provide an apparatus soconstructed as to enable us to utilize a primary body of heat toevaporate and purify successive bodies of water in such a manner thatthe consumption of fuel for this purpose is greatly decreased and thecost of production consequently minimized.

A further object of our invention is to provide an apparatus which willpurify water by removing all solid and liquid impurities therefrom andalso any noxious or deleterious gases, such as are usually found inwaters distilled by the ordinary process, thus enabling us to completelyeliminate the flat or bitter taste ordinarily found in distilled waters.This taste is not, as is commonly supposed, due to the absence of air orminerals, but to the presence of gases, as we have repeatedly proved bya series of experiments extending over many years.

\Ve accomplish these objects by submitting the water or steam to anumber of distinct but connected steps, as follows: First, the water tobe purified is evaporated by any appropriate means and at a pressure andtemperature such as the succeeding steps may require; second, theresultant steam is caused to pass through a body of porous or insolublematerial, such as Connellsville coke, thus removing any entrained waterwhich said steam may contain and also condensing and holding backcertain gases which were generated at high temperatures; third, thesteam is condensed in such a manner that its gases are allowed to escapefrom the condensing-chamber and the surface of the water of condensationor distillate is kept heated to a sufliciently-high temperature toprevent its reabsorbing gases that may enter the condensingchamber;fourth, passing this distillate at the appropriate temperature through abody of purifying material, such as wood-charcoal, wherebyany gaseswhich might have remained in the said distillate will be absorbed andcompletely eliminated therefrom.

o have found that the distillate produced by our apparatus is renderedabsolutely pure and free from vegetable or mineral substances whensubjected to all of the well-known tests for the indication of foreignmatter in water and that the distillate is also free from thedisagreeable features that render water produced by some form of stillsobjectionable. Said distillate is also improved in taste, and its effectupon the human system is rendered as beneficial as is possible by theuse of the purest spring-water.

In order to utilize the heat employed in our apparatus to its fullestextent, we surround a condensing-chamber supplied with steam ofconsiderable pressure with a body of water in an inclosing casing, suchwater entering at the bottom of said chamber and the said chamber beinginsulated as perfectly as possible to prevent the escape of heattherefrom. The heat of the steam in the inner or con (lensing chamberwill pass through the walls of said chamber, and thereby cause the waterin the surrounding water-chamber to evaporate and form a second body ofsteam at a temperature and pressure below that of the first body ofsteam, which latter will be condensed into water. This second bodyofsteam is then led into a second apparatus, similar to that justdescribed, and evaporates water therein at a further slight reduction intemperature and pressure. The said second body of steam is itselfcondensed, while the new body of steam will enter a third apparatus ofsimilar construction, and so on until the pres-v sure and temperature ofthe resultant steam can be no further reduced, when the last body ofwater will'only be heated to near its boiling-point, but not evaporated,and this water is forced into the primary steam-generator firstmentioned, thus conserving the heat contained therein. It is importantthat the various generators be insulated as perfectly as possible, so asto prevent the heat from escaping from the apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of reference areused to 1ndicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a vertical sec tionalelevation of an apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a plan viewof the apparatus, showing the top of the casing thereof removed and thecasing in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken about on theirregular line 3 y of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of the valvecontrolling the inlet of the raw water to the water-chambers. Fig. 5 isa sectional elevation illustratingaslightlymodified form of apparatus.Fig. 6 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5.

In carrying out our invention We provide an outer casing 1, preferablyprotected from outside radiation by appropriate insulating material, asillustrated. The apparatus is inclosed within the casing 1, and the topof said casing is provided with a suitable pipe or chimney 2, situatedover the centrally-located steam-generator 3. The steam-generator 3 maybe of any approved construction and is not necessarily locatedcontiguous to the rest of the apparatus. Situated within the casing 1and around the generator 3 are a plurality of subgenerators 4: 5 6 7 8 91O 11, each of which consists of an outer casing 12 and an innersteam-condensing chamber 13, the water-space 14 being formed between thecasing and chamber last named, while the walls of the chamber 13 areshorter than the outer casing 12 and rest, preferably, near the bottomof the said casing 12 to provide a space 15 between said chamber 13 andthe upper end of the casing 12. At its lower end the casing 12 of eachsubgenerator communicates, by means of pipes 18, with a pipe 17,extending around the outside of the casing 1, to Which is connected araw-water-supply pipe 16. The inlet-pipes 18 are controlled by valves19-, operated by floats 20, which are located in the upper end of thechambers 13 and are connected to the valves 19 by means of rods or stems20 so that the height of water in the chambers surrounding thecondensers is always sufficient to cover said condensers.

At the upper end of each casing 12 above the chamber 13 is located abasket 21, adapted to be filled with coke or other purifying material.The said purifying-basket 21 is provided with suitable apertures, as 22,so that the steam escaping from the chamber 15 may pass through the saidbasket and its purifying material. A steam-outlet pipe 23 is connectedto the top of the coke-chamber 21 and extends to the next generator ofthe series, as will be hereinafter described. The chambers 13 areprovided at their lower ends with purifying-chambers 24:, adapted to befilled with wood-charcoal and into which all condensation within thechambers 13' must fall. The bottoms of these chambers 24 are eachprovided with an outlet-pipe and valve 25, connecting with a common pipe26, from which pipe distilled water is conveyed by a suitableoutlet-pipe 27.

Leading from the steam-space of the generator 3 is a pipe 28, thatpasses first through a vessel 28, containing coke, and then clownwardlythrough the upper end of the subgenerator 4 and into the chamber 13thereof, the said pipe terminating, preferably, just above thepurifying-chamber 2 1, and through this pipe steam is supplied to thesaid chamber. The steam-pipe 23 (best illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings) leads from the space above the water in chamber 12 of thesubgenerator 1 above the coke-basket 2-1 to the subgenerator 5 and intothe chamber 13 therein in the same manner as the pipe 28 enterssubgenerator 1 and for the same purpose. The subgenerator 5 connects ina similar way by means of a pipe similar to 23 with the subgenerator 6,and so on in succession until the subgenerator 11 is reached. The upperspace in this latter generator has no coke-basket or regulatingfloat-valve and is connected directly to the primary generator 3 by thepipe 29, having avalve 30, by means of which water is admitted to thesaid primary generator 3, as required.

In operation water from any adequate supply is admitted to the pipe 16,Fig. 1, at a suflicient pressure and passes by means of the pipes 18into all of the subgenerators until checked at the proper height by thefloatvalves 19 and by means of the pipe 29 and valve 30 into thegenerator 3 until this generator is filled to a proper height, whichshould be that to allow a sufficient space above the surface of thewater to accommodate the steam being evaporated without causing thewater to enter the coke-chambers. However, the water should be admittedas high as possible in the generators to get thefull effect of the heatand should, of course, completely cover the condensing-chamber. Heat nowbeing supplied to the generator 3 at its lire-box, steam is formed insaid generator and passes by means of the pipe 28 through thecoke-chamber 28 to chamber 13 in subgenerator 4L,where,comingin contactwith the walls thereof, submerged by water in the casing 12, it partswith its heat and is condensed into water, the water in casing 12 inturn being gradually heated until it evaporates into steam of a pressurealways a little less than that in chamber 13. This second body of steamrises through the coke in the basket 21, whereby any entrained water iseliminated, and thence by way of pipe 23 to the chamber 13 ofsubgenerator 5, where said steam is similarly condensed and generates athird body of steam from the surrounding water. This last body of steampasses in like manner to subgenerator 6', and the process graduallyextends until steam is present at gradually descending pressures in allof the chambers 13 and evaporating water in all of the casings 12 exceptthat of subgenerator 11, which, as previously stated, supplies heatedwater forevaporation in the primary generator h'leanwhile thecondensation of steam has proceeded in the chambers 13 until it hasaccumulated in the charcoalchambers Q4 and been cooled to near thetemperature of the water in the bottom of casings 12, which latter hasbeen steadily flowing in to supply that lost by evaporation from thesurface, and said distillate can now be drawn ofif for use, percolatingthrough the charcoal in chamber 24: as it does so.

The advantage of locating the lower purifying-chamber for the condensedsteam adjacent the end of the steam-inlet is that the gases which remainin the distillate after condensation are immediately absorbed by thepurifying material before the distillate has an opportunity to cool toany great extent below the temperature of condensation, as would be thecase if the distillate-purifying chamber was located at a distance,thereby allowing time and radiation to cause the distillate to coolbefore passing through the purifying material, for we have found it tobe a fact that the gases remainingin the distillate cannot be liberatedby a second heating of the distillate after the same has once becomecooled below the temperature of condensation. The same is true of thelocation of the steam-purifying chamber in the upper part of thesteamspaces. The steam is purified while at its highest temperatureimmediately after genertion and before it has become more moist orsaturated through the effects of partial condensation due to heatradiation, and therefore the deleterious gases are more readily absorbedby the purifying material and do not become associated with the moremoist steam.

In Fig. 5 wehave shown another-and equivalent form of this apparatus inwhich the subgenerator 11 is made much larger than the other subgenerators and the chamber 13 therein nearly filled with charcoal,while this is omitted from the smaller generators. The distillate fromsubgenerators 4 5 6 7 8 9 is then led by the pipes 31, 32, and 33 to thechamber 13 of subgenerator 11, near its top, and passing through thecharcoal therein is drawn off at its bottom by means of the pipe 3T. Atthe same time the water-supply is admitted into the casing 35 of saidsubgenerator 11 by the pipe 36 and from it distributed by pipes 37 tothe other subgenerators after it has been heated by the distillate inthe inclosed chamber 13.

The condensing-chambers in all of the above subgenerators are suppliedwith vent-pipes 38 for the escape of accumulating air and gases therein,it being evident that these pipes may be located at other points thanthose shown in the drawings. These vent-pipes 38 are of such a size toallow the escape of the small quantity of the gases contained in thecondensingchambers; but the opening is not large enough to materiallyaffect the pressure in said condensing-chamber, and as comparatively lowsteam-pressures are used there is little tendency for the steam toescape in large quantities. It is obvious that the openings in thesepipes may be regulated by suitable cocks.

\Vhile we have shown and described a particular form of apparatus, it isevident that various modifications and changes in the details ofconstruction could be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof our invention. Hence we do notdesi re to be limited to the exactconstruction shown; but

W'hat we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for purifying water, a con(lensing-chamber, means forcondensing steam in said chamber, a conduit for conducting steam intosaid condensing-chamber, and purifying material located adjacent the endof said conduit for absorbing gases remaining in the distillate whilethe latter is highly heated.

2. In an apparatus for purifying water, a condensing-chamber, means forcondensing steam in said chamber, a conduit for conducting steamdownwardly into said condensing- -chamber, and purifying materiallocated in the lower end of said condensing-chamber adjacent the end ofsaid conduit for absorbing gases remaining in the distillate whilethelatter is highly heated.

3. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof subgenerators, a connection from said steam-generator to one of saidsubgenerators, connections between said subgenerators, purifying-chambers in the lower portions of each of said subgeneratorsadjacent the admission ends of said connections, and means forwithdrawing purilied water therefrom.

4. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof subgenerators, a connection from said steam-generater leading to apoint near the bottom of one of said subgenerators, connections betweensaid subgenerators, purifying-chambers in the lower portions of saidsubgenerators adjacent the admission ends of said connections and meansfor withdrawing purilied water therefrom.

5. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof condensers and subgenerators, pipes leading from said steamgeneratorand from successive subgenerators to points near the bottom of eachsucceeding condenser, a purifying material in the lower portions of saidcondensers adjacent the ends of said pipes, water-inlet pipes for saidsubgenerators, float-controlled valves for said inlet-pipes, and meansfor withdrawing the pnrilied water from said condensers.

6. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof subgenerators, con(lensing-chambers, purifying material in the lowerportions thereof, a steam-pipe leading from the main generatorto thelower portion of one of said condensingchambers, steam-pipe connectionsbetween the generating-chambers of each subgenerator and the succeedingcondensing-chamber, the purifying material being located adjacent theends thereof, and purifying material in the steamspaces of saidsubgenerators.

7. In an apparatus for purifying Water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof subgenerators, condensing-chambers therein, purifying material in thelower portion thereof, a steampipe leading from said generator to thelower portion of one of said condensing-chambers to a point adjacentsaid purifying material, steam-pipes forming successive communicationsbetween the upper portions of the subgenerators and the lower portionsof the condensing-chambers, and a pipe leading from the last of theseries of subgenerators to the primary generator or other device for theutilization of heat.

8. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, a pluralityof subgenerators, condensers therein, purifying material in the lowerportion thereof, a steam-pipe leading from said generator to the lowerportion of one of said condensers, steam-pipes forming successivecommunications between the upper portions of the subgenerators and thelower portions of the condensers, inlet-pipes for conveying water tosaid subgenerators, and floatvalves for said inlet-pipes.

9. In an apparatus for purifying water, a steam-generator, anon-conducting covering therefor, a plurality of subgeneratorssurrounding said steam-generator, a non-conducting casing inclosing saidgenerators, a water-supply pipe, branches leadingv therefrom to thelower portion of said subgenerators, internal chambers in the latter thelower portion thereof containing purifying material, a pipe leading fromsaid steam-generator to one of said subgenerators, successive connectionbetween the steam-spaces of the generating and condensing chambers ofthe subgenerators, a connection from the last of the series ofsubgenerators to the lower portion of said steam-generator, and meansfor.withdrawing the purified water fromsaidsubgenerators.

10. A plurality of subgenerators,-eachhaving internalcondensing-chambers, asteamsupply adapted to enter one of said chambers,a steam-space containing purifying material invthe upper of saidsubgenerators, connections between saidsubgenerators, said connectionsentering the ends of said subgenerators adjacent the purifying material,and means for maintaining the water in the subgenerators slightly belowsaid purifying material.

11. A plurality of subgenerators, internal steam-condensing chamberstherefor, purifying material in the latter for purifying the water ofcondensation, purifying material in the upper portions of saidsubgenerators, steam-pipes between each of said subgenerators andcondensing-chambers successively,

water supplies for said subgenerators, and

means for withdrawing purified water from HORACE F. HODGES. JOSEPH KUEN.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR ,E. NrrzsoHE, JNO. T. CRoss.

